With a year left to allocate $57.6 million Athens-Clarke County received from the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, the county has spent a little less than half the funds, with another $6 million encumbered but not spent and about $27 million left to be budgeted. Local governments have until Dec. 31, 2024 to budget the money and until the end of 2026 to spend it or give it back to the federal government.
Under the law, the $350 billion allocated to state and local government can go towards COVID-related expenses like vaccines, social services and backfilling budget deficits from the pandemic’s economic downturn, as well as infrastructure like water, sewer and broadband. Here’s how the ACC government is spending the money, according to the county’s ARPA tracking dashboard:
Homelessness: The county commission put $9.9 million in a “bucket” to address rising homelessness. Of that, $2.5 million went toward a county-sanctioned camp that resulted in 52 people exiting to permanent housing and another 17 to recovery programs. An eviction prevention program initially cost $1.5 million, to which the commission later added $900,000, and has served 116 families. A study creating a long-term plan to reduce homelessness cost $133,000. $4.4 million remains in the homelessness bucket.
Affordable Housing: $15 million was included in the affordable housing bucket. $7.5 million of that covered cost overruns for the North Downtown Project, aka the Bethel Midtown Village redevelopment. As part of the Linnentown reparations, $1.25 million will go toward down payment assistance for low-income homebuyers. Historic Athens received $415,000 to repair historic homes owned by low-income residents. Nonprofit affordable housing developers also received a chunk—$1.5 million for Habitat for Humanity, $2.8 million for the Athens Land Trust and $800,000 for the East Athens Development Corp. A strategic plan for affordable housing cost $187,000.
Youth Development and Violence Prevention: Of this $7.5 million bucket, $2.9 million went to the Boys & Girls Club to open two new centers and start a program to discourage children from joining gangs. The Clarke County School District received $230,000 for after-school athletics programs. And various summer camps split $500,000 in 2022 and another $500,000 in 2023. About $3.4 million remains in this bucket.
Business and Workforce Development: None of the $4 million in this bucket has been spent or allocated.
Behavioral Health: The entire $4 million bucket is going toward Advantage Behavioral Health System’s new inpatient mental health facility.
Other Spending: Beyond the five buckets, the Mayor and Commission spent $5.8 million on premium pay for frontline employees most at risk of contracting COVID, $2.1 million on retention bonuses for county employees, $2.8 million to replace lost revenue in the ACC budget, $470,000 to offset the loss of Athens Transit fare revenue, $400,000 on a study of racial and gender disparities in county vendors and contractors, $397,000 for the health department to incentivize vaccination for the public, $266,000 on vaccine incentives for ACC employees, $36,000 on cameras to catch illegal dumping, $37,500 on a joint development authority with Winterville to award grants to local businesses and $253,000 on teams of social workers and police to respond to incidents involving mental health. In addition, $250,000 is allocated but unspent for building nonprofit capacity, $700,000 for replacing stream pipes, $500,000 for a racial justice and Black futures center and $480,000 to replace IT equipment.
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